On Friday at about 10:20am, Mr. Bruneau was introducing a video about limiting factors for his Honors Biology class. Before playing the film, Mr. Bruneau gained the classes attention to relate the film to their previous activity and a worksheet to go with it. He began the video and said to the class that they should all know how to behave while they watch videos in class. During the video, students generally showed interest in the film. I was impressed to see that students were working hard to pay attention. Occasionally, students would fill in responses as information was given. Students would share answers quietly with each other. Some students doodled, or were looking down at desks. Mr. Bruneau took a couple moments to ask for reactions to what students saw. He would call on one or two students for a comment, then resume the video to be quietly viewed again. Only once during the film did students need to be quietly corrected. A group of 3 students began to chat a little too loud, and Mr. Bruneau saw them. He moved from the side of the room to the back of the room and stood closer to their tables. They promptly stopped talking.
In general, students in these classes know how to conduct themselves. Expectations often go unsaid, and are adhered to. Occasionally, Mr. Bruneau has to vocally remind students to check their noise level or concentration level. Providing some breaks to share a few comments may help students maintain focus on the video. I would like to use opportunities for informal discussion to help my students breathe a little during class. Students were not reprimanded when they quickly made comments or shared answers with their neighbor. Students knew to keep the volume very low and made an effort to not disturb other students. Mr. Bruneau uses the power of proximity very well. When some chatting become obvious to him, Mr. Bruneau did not interrupt the rest of the class watching the video. Instead, he quietly but deliberately made his presence known to the chatty students.
It is very valuable to always explicitly state expectations of behavior with students. Giving them little room to question if behavior will be acceptable or not is helpful to all involved. Mr. Bruneau has established much of this with his students already, but still provides some subtle ways of managing behavior. Providing students with some defined wiggle room in my classes (like informal discussion, whispers to help classmates, subtle corrections) will help alleviate boredom and hopefully make students feel respected.
In general, students in these classes know how to conduct themselves. Expectations often go unsaid, and are adhered to. Occasionally, Mr. Bruneau has to vocally remind students to check their noise level or concentration level. Providing some breaks to share a few comments may help students maintain focus on the video. I would like to use opportunities for informal discussion to help my students breathe a little during class. Students were not reprimanded when they quickly made comments or shared answers with their neighbor. Students knew to keep the volume very low and made an effort to not disturb other students. Mr. Bruneau uses the power of proximity very well. When some chatting become obvious to him, Mr. Bruneau did not interrupt the rest of the class watching the video. Instead, he quietly but deliberately made his presence known to the chatty students.
It is very valuable to always explicitly state expectations of behavior with students. Giving them little room to question if behavior will be acceptable or not is helpful to all involved. Mr. Bruneau has established much of this with his students already, but still provides some subtle ways of managing behavior. Providing students with some defined wiggle room in my classes (like informal discussion, whispers to help classmates, subtle corrections) will help alleviate boredom and hopefully make students feel respected.